Short Interest in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) Rises By 53.4%

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,970,000 shares, an increase of 53.4% from the November 30th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Entergy Stock Performance

ETR stock opened at $75.76 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.95 and a 200-day moving average of $64.42. The firm has a market cap of $32.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.71. Entergy has a 12-month low of $48.08 and a 12-month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.04. Entergy had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Entergy will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Entergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In related news, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 8,268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.52, for a total value of $616,090.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,032 shares in the company, valued at $300,444.48. This trade represents a 67.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eliecer Viamontes sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $29,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $613,431. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,095,637. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ETR. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Entergy by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,408,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,501,509,000 after purchasing an additional 128,667 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Entergy by 12.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,926,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $741,135,000 after acquiring an additional 763,834 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Entergy by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,613,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $870,422,000 after acquiring an additional 315,750 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Entergy by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,479,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,776 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Entergy by 53.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $754,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,611 shares in the last quarter. 88.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $83.00 to $79.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Entergy from $72.50 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Entergy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised Entergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $72.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.40.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas.